


Pelagia in The First Avenger

by Pelxgia



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-10-09 19:37:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17412986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pelxgia/pseuds/Pelxgia
Summary: It is 1942, America has entered World War II, and sickly but determined Steve Rogers is frustrated at being rejected yet again for military service, while Pelagia would give everything to enter the army and contribute to the war. Everything changes when Dr. Erskine recruits them for the secret Project Rebirth. Proving their extraordinary courage, wits and conscience, they undergo the experiment and their bodies is suddenly enhanced into the maximum human potential. When Dr. Erskine is then immediately assassinated by an agent of Nazi Germany's secret HYDRA research department, Rogers and Pelagia are left as the unique man and woman who are initially misused as propaganda mascots; however, when their comrades need them, Steve and Pelagia go on a successful adventure that truly makes them the army's hope and their war against Schmidt begins.





	1. Becoming

"I know this neighborhood. I got beat up in that alley. And that parking lot. And behind that diner." Steve said whilst looking outside the car window.

Peggy keeps looking ahead but she asks him, "Did you have something against running away?".

"You start running they’ll never let you stop. You stand up, push back. Can’t say no forever, right?" At that, she now turns and looks at Steve.

"I know a little of what that’s like. To have every door shut in your face."

"I guess I just don’t why you’d wanna join the army if you’re a beautiful dame. Or a beautiful… a woman. An agent, not a dame! You are beautiful, but…". Steve is stumbling all over his words.

Peggy almost laughs. "You have no idea how to talk to a woman, do you?"

"This is the longest conversation I’ve had with one. Women aren’t exactly lining up to dance with a guy they might step on."

Peggy couldn't believe that. Steve was a charming man. "You must have danced?"

"Well, asking a woman to dance always seems so terrifying. And the past few years just didn’t seem to matter that much. Figured I’d wait."

"For what?"

"The right partner."

They pull up by an antiques shop and get out of the car.

"This way."  
Steve is confused. "What are we doing here?"

"Follow me." Peggy says and they go inside.

"Wonderful weather this morning isn’t it?". The owners tells.

Peggy answers immediately. "Yes, but I always carry an umbrella."

They owner presses a button underneath their desk and Peggy leads Steve into the hidden lab to Dr. Erskine and his team, in a big circular room filled with machinery and two pods in the middle.

Dr. Abraham Erskine greets them. "Good morning." He shakes Steve’s hand and somebody takes a photograph. "Please, not now."

The photographer walks away and Steve looks at the pods. His eyes divert and he accidentally makes eye contact with a girl standing next to the second pod. He quickly and awkwardly redirects his eyes, but from the corners of his eyes he can see the girl approaching him.

"Hi, you must be Steve, right? Peggy has told me about you." Steve looks up and sees that the smiling girl is almost taller than him. Almost.

"That's me." Steve says not knowing what to say or do. As he told Peggy, he isn't usually approached by women. And pretty ones to say the least. At that thought, he takes a better look at the girl. She has long dark brown hair that accompany her almost black eyes. Their colour is so dark that Steve can hardly see her irises. What is her name, though?

As if she can read Steve’s mind, "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Pelagia." She tells and Steve now knows her name.

She continues, "I'm the other person they assigned for the project!". She looks really happy to be there, she can't wait to be turned into a super-soldier. She has always wanted to join the army, ever since she was a little girl. But the world always seemed to fight against her. Thanks to Dr. Erskine, who saw her determination and assigned her to the project, her dream might become reality. 

Steve finds himself smiling at her. He feels her eagerness to go out and help the men laying down their lives.

Dr. Erskine approaches them. "Ah, I see you met each other. I'm afraid that your conversation must be cut short, though. Are you ready?". They take a last look at each other and then nod at Erskine.

"I'll see you outside the pod." Steve tells Pelagia and she smiles at him one last time before settling into her own pod.

"Mr. Stark, how are your levels?"

"Levels at 100%. We may dim half the lights in Brooklyn, but we are ready as we’ll ever be."

Dr. Erskine takes a microphone and taps it. "Do you hear me? is this on?" He starts talking to the small group gathered to watch Steve and Pelagia being prepared to become super-soldiers.

"Ladies and gentlemen, today we take not another step towards annihilation, but the first step on the path to peace. We begin with a series of micro injections into the subjects major muscle groups. The serum infusion will cause immediate cellular change. And then to stimulate growth, the subject will be saturated with Vita-Rays."

Steve scrunched his face as he was being shot with preliminary injection. "That wasn’t so bad.", he said thinking that was the super serum.

"That was penicillin." Dr. Erskine said and Steve could hear Pelagia giggling by his side.

Then he hears Dr. Erskine informing everyone, "Serum infusion beginning in five, four, three, two, one." The serum is injected into both future super-soldiers. The needles piercing their skin and the serum invading their veins causes them an excruciating pain and that shows in their faces. Steve, who was holding his eyes closed has now opened them and they almost resemble saucers. Pelagia grits her teeth and tries to calm herself. Everything is alright.

"Now, Mr. Stark." Howard lowers a leaver, the pods moves upright and encloses Steve and Pelagia inside.

Howard manages the controls. "That’s ten percent. Twenty percent. Thirty. That’s forty percent." An SSR Doctor canbe heard saying that the vital signs are normal, and Howard continues. "That’s fifty percent. Sixty. Seventy."

Suddenly, screaming echoes throughout the lab as they scream in pain.

Dr. Erskine starts asking Steve and Pelagia if they are doing okay while Peggy is shouting at the doctors. "Shut it down!"

Dr Erskine knocks on the pods "Steven? Pelagia? Kill the reactor, Mr. Stark! Turn it off! Kill it! Kill the reactor!"

But Steve is quick to say, "No! Don’t!". He almost sounds desperate.

From the other pod Pelagia can be heard "I can do this!".

After hearing their confirmations, Howard proceeds. "Eighty. Ninety. That’s hundred percent!"

Everything overloads, the lights flash and the reactor closes itself down.

Stark opens the pods and both Steve and Pelagia can be seen transformed into super-soldiers.

Colonel Chester Phillips looks at them from the chamber, finally amazed. "The son of a bitch did it." As everyone poors out of the observation chamber a mysterious man leaves a small, metal object like a cigarett case behind.

"I did it." Steve says as he stumbles out of the pod supported by Erskine, who tells him, "Yeah, yeah. I think we did it.

On the other pod Pelagia is supported by Howard who says, "We actually did it."

Peggy approaches them. "How do you feel?"

"Taller." Steve is almost out of breath.

Pelagia by his side, though has never felt better.

Col. Phillips asks the man next to him with a smug face, "How do you like Brooklyn now, Senator?"  
"I can think of some folks in Berlin who are about to get very nervous." The said Senator exclaims looking at the two super soldiers.

All of a sudden a bomb is detonated in the observation room and the mysterious man uses the confusion to steal the last vial of the serum. "Stop him!" Dr. Erskine says but is quickly silenced by a bullet piercing his stomach.

The man flees but Pelagia and Peggy are quick and they start chasing after him.

Steve kneels beside Erskine who points at Steve’s heart, silently reminding Steve of his promise to remain a good man.

The man shoots his way to a get-away-car but soon after he drives away, Peggy shoots the driver and the car crashes into a taxi so he changes cars. He drives off in the taxi, straight towards Peggy. All while Pelagia is trying to catch up onto him. Peggy shoots at him but he just ducks and keeps going.

Steve out of nowhere shoves her out of the way, but Peggy is angry at him. "I had him!"  
"I'm sorry!". Steve tells before he gets up and joing Pelagia in running after the car.

They catch up, but the man gets out of the car and takes a young boy nearby hostage.

"No! No! Not my son! Don’t hurt him!" His mothet is frantic, but the man only thells her to get back as he runs away with the boy dangling in his arm.

"Let me go!", the young boy is moving around in his arms trying to set himself free.

As the man points a gun at the boy’s head, Pelagia shouts at him, "Wait, don’t! Don’t!". Kruger points the gun at Steve and pulls the trigger, but the gun is empty. So instead he throws the boy into the water.

"No! Don’t!" The man runs and Steve looks down at the boy, who tells him, "Go get him! I can swim!"

He tries to escape in a submarine, but Pelagia jumps into the water, breaks the window and pulls the man out back onto dry land. As they struggle further the vial breaks.

Steve takes a hold of the man's shirt and shouts at his face, "Who the hell are you?"

He doesn't seem fazed and eerily says, "The first of many. Cut off one head, two more shall take its place. Hail HYDRA!". He pops a fake tooth loose and swallows it, he starts to foam at the mouth and dies.


	2. Promotion

Αt the SSR compound, Steve and Pelagia find themselves in another lab as nurses take samples of their blood.

"Think you got enough?". Steve knew the plan was to produce a whole army of super-soldiers, but now with Dr. Erskine dead, there's no hope for such thing.

"Any hope of reproducing a program is locked in your genetic code. But without Dr. Erskine, it could take years." Peggy says with a sigh. Steve Rogers:

Pelagia is visibly sad, Erskine was a good man and without him she wouldn't be where she was. "He deserved more than this."

Peggy looks at them sceptically. There seem to be a lot going on inside her mind and Pelagia does not miss the way her eyes look longer at Steve. "If it could only work once, he’d be proud it was the two of you."

Meanwhile, the Hydra submarine from earlier lies at the SSR tech lab next to the room they are in.

Senator Brandt walks in and speaks up, "Colonel Phillips, my committee is demanding answers.".

"Great. Why don’t we start with how a German spy got a ride to my secret installation in your car?" Philips turns to Stark who is working on the submarine.  
"What have we got here?"

Howard seems unsure too. "Speaking modestly, I’m the best mechanical engineer in this country. But I don’t know what’s inside this thing or how it works. We’re not even close to this technology."

"Then who is?"

"HYDRA. I’m sure you’ve been reading our briefings." Philips is getting more tired of Senator Brandt by the second

"I’m on a number of committees, Colonel."

Peggy and the two super-soldiers walk inside the room, "HYDRA is the Nazi deep science division. It’s led by Johann Schmidt. But he has much bigger ambitions."

"HYDRA’s practically a cult. They worship Schmidt, they think he’s invincible." Colonel Chester continues.

"So what are you gonna do about it?"

"Spoke to the president this morning. As of today the SSR is being retasked."

Peggy knows where this is going to. "Colonel?".

"We are taking the fight to HYDRA. Pack your bags Agent Carter. You too, Stark. You’re flying to London tonight."

Steve suddenly speaks up. He can finally be of use! "Sir, if you’re going after Schmidt, I want in."

"You’re an experiment. You’re going to Alamogordo."

Pelagia knows Colonel is not only referring to Steve and she is taken aback. "The serum worked."

Phillips looks at her and speaks with a tone of anger. "I asked for an army and all I got was you. You are not enough."

Colonel walks out and Senator Brandt is quick to talk to them. "With all due respect to the Colonel, I think we may be missing the point. I’ve seen you two in action. More importantly, the country’s seen it." He addresses his aide who brings him a newsaper. " _Wednesday, June 23, 1943, headlines: "Nazis in New York - mystery man and woman save a child"._

"The enlistment lines have been around the block since your picture hit the newsstands. You don’t take soldiers, two symbols like that, and hide them in a lab. Do you want to serve your country on the most important battlefield of the war?"

"Sir, that’s all I want." Steve is the first to reply, and Senator looks at Pelagia waiting for her answer.

"All I ever wanted."

"Then, congratulations. You just got promoted."

 

* * *

 

Backstage, as Steve is getting dressed in super-hero costume, he is distraught. "I don’t know if I can do this."

Brandt’s Aide shushes him in no time. "Nothing to it. Sell off a few bonds, bonds buy bullets, bullets kills Nazi’s. Bing bang boom. You’re an American hero."

"It’s just not how I pictured getting there." Steve can't seem to bring himself to calm down and Pelagia worries for him.

"The senator’s got a lot of pull up on the hill. You play ball with us, you’ll be leading your own platoon in no time. Take the shield."

The Aide hands Steve a shield and is about to push him onto the stage when Pelagia speaks up. "What about me?"

Brandt’s Aide is a little bit confused at first but then seems to remember. "Oh, you! You will stand right here."

Pelagia can't believe this. She already was feeling pity for Steve as they are practically making him America's mascot, but she thought she was going to be part of the freak show as well. "What?"

"Yes, we don't really know what to do with you, so you'll stay behind the scenes. Sounds good?"

 _"No, it does not sound good at all, I didn't sign up for this",_ Pelagia thinks but even if she wanted to say it out loud, it was already too late.

Steve puts on his head mask and Brandt’s Aide pushes Steve onto the stage.

_"Who’s strong and brave, here to save the American way?"_

As women start to sing and dance in the background Steve reads, "Not all of us can storm a beach or drive a tank. But there’s still a way all of us can fight."

He looks to his side and sees Pelagia looking at him with despair written all over her face. He feels sad for her, you two were connected in a weird way and no one could deny it. The two of them didn't even know about the other's existence, but now they were like a brother and sister. The project brought them together like nothing could connect two people before. He knew how much she wanted to get out there and fight, just like him.

 _"Who vows to fight like a man, for what’s right, night and day?"_  The USO singers take him by surprise and he remembers where he is standing. He snaps his head in the audience and continues.

"Series E Defence Bonds. Each one you buy is a bullet in the barrel of your best guy’s gun."

 _"Who will campaign door-to-door for America? Carry the flag shore to shore for America? From Hoboken to Spokane, the star-spangeld man with a plan._   _We can’t ignore there’s a threat and a war we must win."_

"Each one you buy is a bullet in the barrel of your best guy’s gun."

_"Who’ll hang a noose on the goose-stepping goons from Berlin? Who will redeem, heed the call for America? Who’ll rise or fall, give his all for America? Who’s here to prove that we can? The star-spangled man with a plan."_

"We all know this is about trying to win the war. We can’t do that without bullets and bandages, tanks and tents. That’s where you come in. Every bond you buy will help protect someone you love." A men dressed as Hitler sneaks up on him on the stage.

All the kids in the USO Audience almost roar as they notice the villainous man. "Turn around! He’s right behind you!"

"Keep our boys armed and ready, and the Germans will think twice about trying to get the drop on us." The man attacks him and gets fake-punched.

_"Stalwart and steady and true, forcefull and ready to defend, the red, white, and blue. Who’ll give the Axis the sack and is smart as a fox? Far as an eagle will soar. Who’s making Adolf afraid to step out of his box? He knows what we’re fighting for. Who waked the giant that napped in America? We know it’s no one but Captain America. Who’ll finish what they began? Who’ll kick the Krauts to Japan? The star-spangled man with a plan!"_

Pelagia is watching behind the curtains, as she thinks that the song actually has a nice tune. It's true, but she is only trying to distract herself from breaking down. She feels like crying, but she is tired of doing so. She wants the crying to stop, she is better than this. She deserves better than this.  
  
The song comes to an end and she rushes to the cubicle she and Steve were given for the short time they visited the theatre. She is frustrated and doesn't want anyone seeing her like this.   
  
The show is officially over and as everyone stands up to leave, Steve immediately goes backstage looking for Pelagia. He finds her sitting on the floor of their shared cubicle.  
  
 "Pelagia?" He is only met with silence as she refuses to look at him. She isn't mad at him, she just knows that she is close to making a fool of herself. "You can talk to me, you know I'm here for you." Steve smiles at her even if she is not looking at him and he takes a seat on the floor next to her.  
  
A few seconds pass before she speaks up in a voice so quiet Steve almost can't hear her.   
"I know that the fact that they got you out there acting like a circus clown is screwed up, I just- I guess I want to be a part of that. But I'm not. Not even that."

Her eyes are filled with unshed tears and she is desperately trying to blink her tears away.  _What are you even crying for?_ "I'm sorry, I know I'm overreacting and all I'm just a little bit tired I guess."

"I can understand how you feel, Pelagia. But trust me when I tell you it's all going to be better. I have a feeling about it" 

At that, she faces him. Ever the pessimist, she wants to scoff but something in her gut tells her that Steve is right. 


	3. Rescue

_Italy, November 1943, 5 miles from the front._

Steve is dressed in his super-hero costume ready for another show. This time he addresses a crowd of soldiers.  
  
"How many of you ready to help me sock old Adolf on the jaw?" He is only met with silence and he has no choice but to improvise. "Okay. Uh… I need a volunteer."  
  
"I already volunteered! How do you think I got here?" One soldier shouts and there's laughter from the rest of them. "Bring back the girls!"  
  
Steve is tensed up by their reactions but he does as he is told. "I think they only know the one song. But um…let me…I'll- I’ll see what I can do."  
  
"You do that, sweetheart!" "Nice boots, Tinker Bell!" The crowd of soldiers laughs again.  
  
"Come on, guys. We’re all on the same team here."  
  
"Hey, Captain! Sign this!"  A soldier stands, turns and pulls his pants down showing his bottom at Steve. The crowd starts to throw things at Steve and he covers himself with his prop-shield as he exits the scene.  
  
"Bring back the girls!" The women run on stage and the crowd cheers.  
  
Brandt’s Aide is backstage and talks to Steve. "Don’t worry, pal. They’ll warm up to you. Don’t worry."

 

* * *

  
The same day, Pelagia was hanging out with Peggy. They have grown to be friends and at the moment, they were talking about others things beside the war.

"... and I grew up in Hampstead of England."

"That's nice. I was born in Greece but my family decided it would be better if we moved here when I was 4 years old." 

Later, they were walking outside the camps as they find Steve sitting on the edge of the stage sketching.  
  
Peggy is the first to greet Steve and he turns and looks up at her.  "Hi. What are you doin’ here?"  
  
"Officially I’m not here at all."  
  
Pelagia wants to talk about his previous performance so she decides to bring it up. "That was quite a performance."  
  
"Yeah. Uh… I had to improvise a little bit. Crowds I’m used to are usually more uh… twelve."  
  
Peggy replies, "I understand you’re "America’s New Hope"?"  
  
"Bond sales take a ten percent bump in every state he visits.", Pelagia beats Steve to the question.  
  
"Is that Senator Brandt I hear?" Peggy doesn't seem impressed.  
  
"At least he’s got me doin’ this. Phillips would have had me stuck in lab."  
  
"And these are your only two options? A lab rat or a dancing monkey? You were meant for more than this, you know? And Pelagia as well, even if they scattered her like she is nothing. You're not." Steve goes to respond but hesitates. "What?"  
  
"You know for the longest time I dreamed about coming overseas and being on the front lines. Serving my country. I finally get everything I wanted, and I’m wearing tights."  
  
Pelagia opens her mouth but honking in the background silences her. An ambulance arrives with wounded soldiers. The three turn around to watch.  
  
Pelagia forgets what she wanted to say and now remarks, "They look like they’ve been through hell."  
  
"These men more than most. Schmidt sent out a force to Azzano. Two hundred men went up against him and less than fifty returned. Steve’s audience contained what was left of the 107th. The rest were killed or captured." Peggy informs but Steve is visibly shaken by her words. Pelagia is trying to remember what that number means to her but after wracking her brain she can't recall anything.   
  
"The 107th?" When Steve says it, it finally rings a bell inside her mind. Bucky!  
  
Pelagia was told of Bucky's greatness at Steve’s and her sleepless nights along with other subjects. She knew how he was there for Steve whenever he got a beating, but not only. Steve told her about him and she was relieved to know that someone was standing up for him, because she wished she was there to help him.  
  
Although, Peggy is confused. "What?"  
  
"Come on!" Steve stands up quickly, as you and Peggy start running behind him to Colonel Phillips' tent.  
  
"Well, if it isn’t the Star-Spangled Man With A Plan. And what is your plan today?"  
  
"I need the casualty list from Azzano."  
  
"You don’t get to give me orders, son."  
  
"I just need one name. Sergeant James Barnes from the hundred and seventh."  
  
Colonel ignores Steve as he points one finger to Peggy. "You and I are gonna have a conversation later that you won’t enjoy."  
  
Steve is persistent though. "Please tell me if he’s alive, sir. B-A-R-"

 "I can spell." He turns his back to Steve and refers to Barnes. "I have signed more of these condolence letters today than I would care to count. But the name does sound familiar. I’m sorry."  
  
Steve is not one to give up a fight easily. Besides, who knew of they were alive or not? "What about the others? Are you planning a rescue mission?"  
  
"Yeah! It’s called winning the war."  
  
"But if you know where they are, why not at least…?"  
  
"They’re thirty miles behind the lines. Through the most heavily fortified territory in Europe. We’d lose more men than we’d save. But I don’t expect you to understand that, because you’re a chorus girl."  
  
"I think he understands just fine." Pelagia is the one who talks this time. She felt the need to stand up for Steve after Philips' last words.  
  
"Well then he should understand it somewhere else. If I read the posters correctly, he's got some place to be in thirty minutes." As Phillips walks away, Steve looks at the military map which shows where the men of the 107th are. "Yes, sir. I do." 

 

* * *

  
Steve is in his tent, starting to pack some things, as he gets ready to set off. Pelagia follows him inside knowing of his plan.  
  
"I'm coming with you. I want to help save them and besides It's my chance to prove myself."  
  
Steve is okay with that but still worried about her. Even if he wanted to say something, Peggy is suddenly opening his tent.  
  
 "What do you plan to do? Walk to Austria?" She then notices Pelagia is there as well. "Don't tell me you're joing him?"  
  
"If that’s what it takes." Steve replies.  
  
"You heard the Colonel, your friend is most likely dead."  
  
"You don’t know that."  
  
"Even so, he’s devising a strategy. If he detects…"  
  
"By the time he’s done that, it could be too late!" Steve's mind can't be changed. He walks out to a jeep and Pelagia hops in with her bag carrying her riffle and other weapons secured in her bag.  
  
Steve looks at Peggy, now talking with a different tone. "You told me you thought I was meant for more than this. Did you mean that?"  
  
"Every word."  
  
"Then you gotta let me go." He gets in the jeep but Peggy stops him.  
  
"I can do more than that."

* * *

  
Pelagia and Steve find themselves in a plane piloted by Stark.  
  
"The HYDRA camp is in Krausberg, tucked between these two mountain ranges. It’s a factory of some kind." Peggy is informing them. Pelagia is listening to her from the passenger seat, while Steve is facing her in the back seats of the plane.  
  
"We should be able to drop you two right on the doorstep." Howard adds.  
  
"Just get us as close as you can." Pelagia says and Steve then refers to Stark and Peggy helping them. "You know, you two are gonna be in a lot of trouble at the lab."  
  
"And you won’t?"  
  
"Where we're goin’, if anybody yells at us we can just shoot ‘em."  
  
"They will undoubtedly shoot back."  
  
"Well, let’s hope it’s good for somethin’." Steve tells as he knocks at his shield.  
  
"I hope they don't shoot at Pelagia's pretty little face." Howard, always the flirt, adds. "Agent Carter, if we’re not in too much of a hurry I thought we could stop off in Lucerne for a late night fondue."  
  
Peggy looks awkwardly at Steve who’s getting ready to parachute along with Pelagia. "Stark is the best civilian pilot I’ve ever seen. He’s mad enough to brave this airspace, we’re lucky to have him."  
  
Steve nods his head to Howard and starts mumbling, "So are you two…? Do you…? Fondue?"  
  
On the other side Peggy ignores Steve’s awkward and confused rambling. "This is your transponder. Activate it when you’re ready and the signal will lead us straight to you."  
  
"Are you sure this thing works?"  
  
"It’s been tested more than you, pal." Howard tells him as their plane is being attacked by canons downwards.  Steve goes towards the opened door of the plane, ready to jump with Pelagia following behind him.  
  
"Get back here! We’re taking you all the way in."  
  
"As soon as we're free, you turn this thing around and get the hell outta here!"  
  
"You can’t give me orders!" Peggy shouts over the wind and the open fire.  
  
"The hell I can’t! I’m a Captain!" He looks at her and then jumps out of the plane.  
  
Pelagia jumps right after him. "Howard! You better save me some of that fondue!"

Peggy can swear that after she fell she heard her shout "Weeeeeee". _What the..._

* * *

Steve and Pelagia run through the dark woods until they find a road where trucks are driving by. They get into the back of one of them and finds themselves face to face with two Hydra guards.  
  
"Fellas." Pelagia grins at them before knocking one out of the vehicle, while Steve does the same with the other.  
  
After they snuck into the HYDRA factory and they each stole a blue shining cartridge, they find some of the captured American soldiers.  
  
"Who are you supposed to be?"  
  
"I’m… Captain America."  
  
"I beg your pardon?  
  
"I'm Pelagia." She says with a laugh.  
  
After Steve they have unlocked their cells and prisoners start pooring out, Steve can't find Bucky. "Is there anybody else? I’m looking for a Sergeant James Barnes."  
  
A man with a moustache replies to him,  
"There’s an isolation ward in the factory, but no one’s ever come back from it."  
  
"All right. The tree line is northwest, 80 yards past the gate. Get out fast and give ‘em hell."  
  
"We’ll meet you guys in the clearing with anybody else I find."  
  
"Wait! You know what you’re doin’?"  
  
"Yeah. I’ve knocked out Adolf Hitler over two hundred times." Steve says and starts running.  
  
"I haven't." Pelagia scoffs. "See you soon pals." She winks at them and catches up to Steve.  
  
The prisoners escape into the compound, overpowering the guards with their sheer numbers. Pelagia is fighting along with them, occasionally shooting HYDRA agents down or punching them in their ugly faces. 

After a while she meets Steve again and they go inside the facility.

Meanwhile, at the HYDRA factory command center Johann Schmidt is starring at a surveillance screen. "What is happening?" He presses an alarm as he spots the infamous Captain America on the monitor and decides to activate the self destruct sequence which are counting down from 7 minutes.

"No, no! What are you doing?" Zola cried. He was a tiny man with a big head and a nasty face. Thin rimmed, golden glasses rested on his nose. He is a scientist and in charge of the machinery of Hydra.  
  
"Our forces are outmatched." Zola looks at the screens, then runs out of the room.  
  
Schmidt secures the Tesseract while Zola packs the blueprints of his design. Steve sees him in the corridor but hesitates to chase him when he hears someone. Along with Pelagia, they enter the room where the mumbling comes from.  
  
"Sergeant. 32557…"  
  
A man strapped to a chair in one of Schmidt’s testing labs. "Bucky? Oh, my God."  
  
 Steve unstraps him from the chair and Pelagia wants to feel extatic to finally meet him but in the state he is in, she might want to bite her tongue and just help Steve.  
  
Bucky opens eyes slowly. He looks to be under the influence of some kind of drug. What did they do to him?  
  
"Is that…"  
  
"It’s me. It’s Steve."  
  
"Steve?"  
  
"Come on."  
  
"Steve." Bucky smiles at the realisation. His eyes are open but it seems that he just woke up.  
  
Steve has helped him on his feet now and takes a look at him. "I thought you were dead."  
  
"I thought you were smaller."  
  
"Come on."  
  
"What happened to you?"  
  
"I joined the Army."  
  
Bucky can't seem to stand on his feet and Steve drags him on his shoulder. Pelagia who has been watching the exchange from a distance now helps him by putting one of Bucky's hand over her shoulder as well.  
  
In he disheveled state, he hadn't noticed Pelagia. He takes a look at her and asks, "Who is this dame you brought with you Steve?"  
  
"It's nice to finally meet you Sergeant." Pelagia says. She sure does know how to make a great first impression.  
  
"Finally meet me? Looks like I have to catch up with you, doll."  
  
Bucky seems to be better as he walks on his own and they flee through the exploding factory until they meet Schmidt and Zola.  
  
"Captain America! How exciting! I’m a great fan of your films." He takes a look at Pelagia who stands next to Bucky. "And Pelagia, correct? If anyone actually cared about whoever you are."  
  
She grits her teeth, wanting to hold back, but she decides against it. "Who are you to talk to me like that, you Nazi fat head!"  
  
He only ignores her which infuriates her more. "So Dr. Erskine managed it after all. Not exactly an improvement, but still impressive."  
  
Steve punches Schmidt hard in the face. "You have no idea."  
  
"Haven’t I?" He goes to hit Steve but Steve protects himself with his shield, seeing the dent created by Schmidt’s fist. 

As they fight, Zola pulls a leaver and the catwalk they are standing on retracts to either side seperating them.

"No matter what lies Erskine told you, you see I was his greatest success!" He peels off the skin on his face to reveal that he is the Red Skull. 

"You don’t have one of those, do you?", Bucky tells beside you. 

"You are deluded, Captain. Both of you! You pretend to be simple soldiers, but in reality you are just afraid to admit that we have left humanity behind. Unlike you, I embrace it proudly. Without fear!" 

"Then how come you’re running?" Schmidt and Zola continue their escape and they enter an elevator. Just before the door closes, Pelagia takes the chance to shoot at Schmidt’s arm. "Motherf-"

An explosion shakes the catwalk you were standing on and Steve urges you and Bucky.

"Come on, let’s go. Up."

Beneath them, everything is on fire. They have to reach the other side of the room over a thin gantry.  
  
"Let’s go. One at a time."  
  
"Bucky reaches the other side, then Pelagia but the gantry collapses behind them. What were they gonna do? They can't leave Steve behind!  
  
"Gotta be a rope or something!"  
  
"Just go! Get out of here!"  
  
"No! Not without you!" Bucky screams on top of his lungs.   
  
One last explosion goes off before Steve jumps over the chasm.

 


	4. Dance?

"Senator Brandt, I regret to report that Captain Steven G. Rogers went missing behind enemy lines on the third. Aerial reconnaissance has proven unfruitful. As a result, I must declare Captain Rogers killed in action. Period."


End file.
